Scientists get a good look at asteroid

By: Mark Somerson

The Columbus Dispatch - January 10, 2013 09:15 AM

NASA scientists got a closer look at the asteroid Apophis over the weekend, thanks to the
Herschel Space Observatory.

You might remember Apophis - it is the asteroid that made the news when scientists predicted
there was a 2.7 percent chance of it striking Earth in 2029. Now they believe it will come no
closer than 18,300 miles, which is still pretty close.

But back to the weekend's observations, in which the asteroid approached Earth. During this
approach, Apophis never got closer than about 9 million miles.

Using data gathered by the observatory, scientists say the asteroid is bigger than first
estimated, and less reflective.

The asteroid will make another approach to Earth in 2036. But scientists believe there will be
no chance of an impact.

The Herschel Observatory is a European Space Agency mission. NASA is a partner in the
research.

The images were made with the observatory's photodetecting array
camera and spectrometer instrument. The image shows asteroid Apophis in three wavelengths: 70, 100
and 160 microns, respectively.